Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 7:55 pm
I made it to Bald Mountain, Idaho, back in January, only to find the area had lost power. The road there was much of the adventure. The club-run hill is only open weekends -- and the road is only plowed occasionally. A guy a the bottom of the road motioned me over. 'Might as well put her in four wheel drive," he said.
The ski area is one t-bar and 800 vertical and 14 trails; enough for a full day. I skinned it.
In the afternoon I called Snowhaven; they were open at night.
Snowhaven is one t-bar, two rope tows and 350 vertical. It's small but high and has nice, dry snow. It's run by the city of Grangeville Parks and Recreation Department.
The next day I was over to Cottonwood Butte, a volunteer-run area.
It had one t-bar, one rope tow, 700 vertical, and a very cute girl loading the T.
The mountain was low on snow, though, and anything not groomed was impossible to ski.
A few weeks later we were on the other side of the Divide, at Snowdown. Showdown actually has four chairs and a moving carpet, but almost the entire mountain can be skied from one lift.
We camped at Freezeout Lake that night and woke to a blizzard.
We made the very long drive to Teton Pass, a recently reopened area with a chair, a new poma, and a magic carpet. There's about 1100 vertical and plenty of steep skiing. It's really a first class mountain, with a lot of potential.
We were lucky enough to ski it in a foot of new snow.
Last week I was on my own up to Canada.
First up was Pass Powderkeg, on the Alberta-BC border. Two t-bars, a rope, 1000 vertical, and a terrain park with amazing freestylers.
The area has a phenomenal amount of snow, and two feet new when I was there. Unfortunately, the mountain also has a lot of flat spots. It's run by the town.
Last up was lovely Wapiti, a town run mountain in Elkford, BC. Wapiti has one T, 1,000 vertical, and a lot of run, wide open cruisers. What a great mountain!
The ski area is one t-bar and 800 vertical and 14 trails; enough for a full day. I skinned it.
In the afternoon I called Snowhaven; they were open at night.
Snowhaven is one t-bar, two rope tows and 350 vertical. It's small but high and has nice, dry snow. It's run by the city of Grangeville Parks and Recreation Department.
The next day I was over to Cottonwood Butte, a volunteer-run area.
It had one t-bar, one rope tow, 700 vertical, and a very cute girl loading the T.
The mountain was low on snow, though, and anything not groomed was impossible to ski.
A few weeks later we were on the other side of the Divide, at Snowdown. Showdown actually has four chairs and a moving carpet, but almost the entire mountain can be skied from one lift.
We camped at Freezeout Lake that night and woke to a blizzard.
We made the very long drive to Teton Pass, a recently reopened area with a chair, a new poma, and a magic carpet. There's about 1100 vertical and plenty of steep skiing. It's really a first class mountain, with a lot of potential.
We were lucky enough to ski it in a foot of new snow.
Last week I was on my own up to Canada.
First up was Pass Powderkeg, on the Alberta-BC border. Two t-bars, a rope, 1000 vertical, and a terrain park with amazing freestylers.
The area has a phenomenal amount of snow, and two feet new when I was there. Unfortunately, the mountain also has a lot of flat spots. It's run by the town.
Last up was lovely Wapiti, a town run mountain in Elkford, BC. Wapiti has one T, 1,000 vertical, and a lot of run, wide open cruisers. What a great mountain!
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